I've been meaning to pick up a Sharon Kay Penman novel for years. I actually have one on my physicARC received from the Goodreads First Reads program.

I've been meaning to pick up a Sharon Kay Penman novel for years. I actually have one on my physical To Read bookshelf, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Goodreads kinda forced me to jump into Penman's work by giving me a copy of her newest, Lionheart. This novel focuses on the third [legitimate] and most famous of Henry II of England's sons, Richard I.

Much of the first part of the story focuses on Richard's sister Joanna and his betrothed Berengaria, as well as Richard's famous mother Eleanor of Aquitaine. By the end of the book all three women have more or less disappeared, so it was nice to get so much of them at the beginning. The story takes us from when Richard embarks on the Third Crusade to when he sailed for home after negotiating a peace with Saladin. The Richard that appears in the novel actually seems like a real person. This seems like a hard thing to pull off, consider Richards real larger-than-life exploits, not to mention all the legends that have grown up around him. He's a king, and used to getting his own way, but he can also be reasonable. He makes mistakes, and is stubborn, but he's also pretty likeable. All of the major characters are fairly likeable (except for King Philippe of France, who is as unlikeable as they come). The novel focuses largely upon the characters' relationships with each other. There are battle scenes (it would be impossible to write a book about a crusade without 'em), but they're not prolonged or graphic. There's some romance, but again, not prolonged or graphic. It's very much a story about feelings, attitudes, politics, and conversations. The book feels like there should be more, but that's because there's another one coming.

some of the language can be a bit contemporary (and that's our contemporary, not Richard's contemporary). I can't make up my mind how I feel about that. Sometimes I found myself thinking "this is not how they would talk!", but for the most part it made the story flow more smoothly. No archaic words or sentence structure to trip up today's reader. It wouldn't be one of my reviews unless I quibbled about something, I suppose.

I really enjoyed Lionheart. The characters were all relatable, and I found myself invested in each one. It was especially nice to get to know Richard I as a real person, not just as the macho military caricature so often seen. I look forward to the promised followup work to this novel so I can take another look at the rest of Richard's reign....more